EVALUATION OF AN AUTOMATIC SEIZURE DETECTION METHOD FOR THE NEWBORN EEG

In another publication, we described a set of methods for automatic de tection of EEG seizures in the newborn. We describe here the evaluatio n of these methods using a completely new set of data, which were not used in developing the method. This testing data set consisted of reco rdings from 54 patients, lasting an average of 4.4 h. Recordings had 8 -16 channels and were obtained, in approximately equal numbers, from 3 institutions in Canada, the USA and Australia. Recording conditions v aried from short recordings fully attended by a technologist to overni ght recordings largely unattended. The average seizure detection rate was 69% (77%, 53%, 84% in the 3 institutions). False detections occurr ed at the average rate of 2.3/h (4.1, 1.0, 2.7 in the 3 institutions), with fluctuations that reflected largely the technical quality and le vel of supervision of the recordings. The results are similar to those obtained in the commonly used method of epilepsy monitoring in adults and allow us to envisage clinical application. (C) 1997 Elsevier Scie nce Ireland Ltd.